


Old Sleds and Bad Decisions

by Wind_Writes



Series: Geralt & Yennefer’s 12 Days of Ficmas [11]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, Sledding, Snow Day, Winter, Winter fun, Yennefer Was Right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28385319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wind_Writes/pseuds/Wind_Writes
Summary: Geralt has a toboggan, Ciri wants to drive, Yennefer thinks they’re both crazy and Jaskier is just here for funsies.
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: Geralt & Yennefer’s 12 Days of Ficmas [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035855
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Old Sleds and Bad Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> Day 11 of 12: Sledding

With a final click of the lid, Yennefer sealed up the last of the Christmas decorations. The ceramic Christmas village was put away till next year, the ornaments stored till they were needed again and the tree had a date with the county trash man for recycling. The kitchen had been put back into some semblance of order after the Christmas Day meal and the radio had returned to its regular scheduled programing.

She loved the holiday season as much as the next person, but by the time the day after Christmas rolled around, she was ready to have her house back in order. She was over the sweets and the music, tired of the shopping and parties and was in need of a peaceful few days before the New Year’s celebrations would begin.

Windows propped open to let in an unseasonably warm December breeze, Yennefer frowned at the sound of hammering coming in from the garage. Geralt had promised to get the outside decorations pulled down before the weather changed but she’d yet to see a ladder make an appearance and Santa and his eight tiny reindeer were still sitting front and center on the lawn.

Dragging a full trash sack of broken Christmas lights and gift wrapping bags and bows that had served their last holiday season, Yennefer descended into the garage only to find Geralt hunched over something wooden on his work bench, the plan to take down Christmas lights long forgotten.

“What are you doing,” she asked, slamming the trash can lid down a little harder than necessary. One thing, she asked him to do one thing for Christmas breakdown and he couldn’t even manage that.

Geralt didn’t bother to look up from his project, eyes calculating the best way to get the wood to stick before running another line of wood glue down the inside. “Fixing the sled.”

“Fixing the-” confused, Yennefer closed the distance between them and peered over his shoulder, her brows pulling down in a scowl when she caught sight of what he was working on. “I thought we threw that thing away last year when you took out a mailbox with it.”

The corner of his lips quirked in amusement thinking back. It had been one of the last snow storms of the season and, after probably one too many adult beverages, he’d taken the sled out with Lambert and Eskel and managed to take out a mailbox and a couple trash cans when they couldn’t get stopped. Yennefer had been furious. “No, you just wanted to throw it away.”

Yennefer scoffed. She’d held Gerlat’s hand in the ER after she had to take him in to get stitches while Lambert and Eskel slept it off in the back of the car. Whatever fond memories he had of that night were extremely distorted thanks to a bottle of cinnamon whiskey and poor adult decisions.

“It’s kind of a death trap,” she chided, eyeing the sled wearily as Geralt clamped the wooden structure together and placed it aside to set.

Pushing away from the workbench, Geralt swiveled on his stool to look up at his perturbed partner. She’d been peeved the second she had come through the garage door and seen him at the bench and it only fueled her irritation when she realized just what he’d been working on. Reaching out, Geralt tugged her to stand between his thighs, arms wrapping around her waist to keep her in place and gave her his best smile. “I think you mean memory maker,” he teased.

Frown etched into her features, Yennefer reluctantly went into his arms, her gaze racking over the setting arts and crafts project. It looked in worse shape than she remembered. “Why do you have the thing dragged out anyways?”

“Told Ciri I’d take her sledding.”

One brow arched in confusion, Yennefer stared at him, at a loss for words. The man had lost his god damn marbles. Turning is his grasp, she gestured out the main door. “On what? There isn’t any snow.”

Sun shining, a subtle breeze wafted through the bare limbs of the trees and neighborhood children ran in their yards in nothing but sweatshirts and pants. They hadn’t seen snow for over a month, it had been a green and rather balmy Christmas this year and all reports showed that the weather was going to continue in this fashion through the New Year.

The corner of Geralt’s mouth quirked, as if he knew a secret no one else did. “There will be by tomorrow.”

“Not enough to sled in,” Yennefer pressed. There was talk of a skiff of snow late in the evening, but tomorrow’s forecast was promising sunny and fifty degrees so she hadn’t taken much stock in the prediction.

Unfazed, Geralt rose to his feet and left a fleeting kiss on her brow before releasing his hold. “We’ll see about that,” he countered and picked up the forgotten ladder and headed out the door to start taking down decorations.

If his guess was correct with the weather and there were still decorations up, he was confident the only thing he’d have to keep warm in the snow was that sled.

* * *

There was snow. Everywhere. Naked tree limbs littered the unplowed street and power was out through most of town. It was that heavy wet snow that was miserable to shovel and hung on everything. It was the stuff that was perfect for snowballs and snowmen and sledding.

Hat pulled down around her ears, Yennefer breathed into her mitten covered hands and glared at the sled sitting just in front of her and then to the idiot man that held its rope. They’d woken up to two feet of snow dumped overnight and immediately he’d woken Ciri up and the two of them had begun preparing for a snow day. Yennefer had been insistent that they use any other sled beside the rickety old toboggan, but they’d ignored her pleas and now she found herself at the top of the hill babysitting just in case someone needed to make a trip to the ER.

The heat of Yennefer’s glare burned through the multiple layers of clothing he wore and Geralt turned to watch her over his shoulder. She looked beyond annoyed, her scarf in disarray with snow on her lashes and he couldn’t help the teasing smile he gave here when their eyes met. “Told you.”

“Shut up,” Yennefer sniffled and whipped at her nose with the back of her mitten, her frown deepening as his smile grew.

Sprawled out in the snow, waiting for the sled to be ready, Ciri moved her arms and legs back and forth in the fresh fallen snow, a snow angel coming to shape beneath her. From the corner of her eye, she watched Geralt double check the boards on the bottom and begin to maneuver the behemoth of a sled into position. She’d been humming with excitement since she’d woken up to snow first thing this morning and she couldn’t wait to finally get to take the sled for a run.

“Can I sit up front?” She asked, sitting up from her snow creation and shaking the powder from her head.

Satisfied with the sled’s position, Geralt smiled at the beaming child and ushered her over. “I don’t see why not.”

Ciri scurried over to where he was knelt beside the sled and helped him build up a berm in front of it, just high enough to keep it in place, but small enough to maneuver over the top when the time came. 

“Geralt,” Yennefer drawled, her tone anything but approving.

He sat back on his heels and watched Ciri for a moment, weighing his options, before chancing a glance over his shoulder at Yennefer. “What? She’s not going to hurt herself.”

While he understood Yennefer’s hesitation, he was confident that it was unwarranted. Sure, he had gotten into a bit of a sledding pickle last winter, but that had been with the guys and after a large amount of alcohol had been consumed. This scenario was completely different.

“Says the man who got stitches last winter from driving the same sled.” Out of breath, Jaskier trudged his way past the sled and to the top of the hill beside Yennefer, completely ignoring the dirty look Geralt gave him as he passed.

Very rarely did Yennefer agree with anything Jaskier had to say, usually going against anything he suggested simply because she could, but in this instance, she was willing to side with the bard. Maybe if another person told Geralt how ridiculous and unsafe he was being, he’d listen. “Thank you, Jaskier.”

“No one asked you,” Geralt growled, a frown marring his features at the realization he hadn’t told Jaskier what they were doing today. “And what are you doing here?”

“I was bored and Ciri invited me.”

Geralt gave his daughter a disapproving look.

“You never said he couldn’t come,” Ciri muttered sheepishly.

Amused, Jaskier pulled a flask from the inside of his coat and took a pull, the amber liquid warming his system before offering it to the raven haired woman beside him. “Are you sure that’s the best direction to go,” he questioned.

Thankful for her friend’s offer, Yennefer helped herself to the flask and watched anxiously as Geralt continued to shape snow beneath the old wooden sled. Ciri had been ecstatic when they’d set out for the hill, dragging the wooden death trap behind her, but Yennefer had far less faith in Geralt’s carpentry skills and only hoped that he was the one with the broken face and not her daughter.

Gaze sweeping over the landscape, Geralt eyed the other pockets of people and where they were sledding, unsatisfied with what he saw. The pitch elsewhere was all wrong and with all the people milling around, the sledding experience wouldn’t be the same. “It’s the best part of the hill,” he confirmed. 

“Yeah, but trees,” Jaskier pointed out. It seemed obvious to him that it wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest to go barreling down a snow covered hill right into a grove of trees. They didn’t tend to give when a person crashed into them.

Geralt scoffed at the bard’s concern with an absent wave as he gestured to Ciri to take her spot at the front. “We’ve got plenty of stopping room before we’d ever get to the trees.”

Flask still in hand, Yennefer took another drink. “This is going to be a repeat of the mailbox incident”

Unfazed by the pair’s lack of trust, Geralt shifted the sled so it started to sit just above the berm he and Ciri created, a sly grin spreading across his features as he settled himself at the back of the sled. If Yennefer was going to be sour about the whole thing, then he’d really give her something to be sour about.

“Are we gonna do this or what?” Ciri groaned from her spot up front. If she’d been in charge, they would have been down and back up this hill three times by now.

Feet braced against the snow to keep them from teetering over the top, Geralt reached out to Yennefer and gestured towards the sled. “Come on Yen.”

Yennefer looked at Geralt like he had six heads. In what world did he think she was going to willingly climb aboard the exact thing she’d lectured him on for being dangerous. “I am not getting on that death trap.”

“Yes you are,” he grinned, eyes darting to Ciri as the child beamed up at Yennefer.

From behind her, Jaskier gave a hushed chuckle. He should have seen this coming. “Don’t worry, Yennefer, I’ll stay up here ready to call 911.”

“Come on Yennefer, just one ride,” Ciri pipped in. The sled was big enough for the three of them and what kind of family outing would it be if the family didn’t go on at least one toboggan ride together.

Violet gaze jumped from the two settled in the snow in front of her to Jaskier and back again, her resolve melting away and heart softening to the hopeful look in Ciri’s eyes. She’d found herself in a shit position and it was all Geralt’s fault. 

“Fine.” Unable to tell Ciri no and resigned to the fact that there would be no living with either of them unless she went through with this idiotic idea, Yennefer took one final pull off Jaskier’s lask before handing it back and taking her spot between Ciri and Geralt. “You two know what you’re doing right?”

Laughter on her lips, Ciri took hold of the sled’s rope and leaned far enough forward to start tipping. “It’s all about the lean.”

And then they were off.

It took a moment for the sled to get moving, but as soon as it did, Yennefer’s breath caught in her throat and a terrified wine passed her lips. Grasping tightly to Ciri, Yennefer peered over her shoulder and watched the landscape flash by. It wasn’t until she felt Geralt’s wrap around her waist that her stomach came out of her throat.

For a heartbeat, Yennefer relaxed and found herself enjoying the feel of the wind on her face and the fun of sledding with her family. It wasn’t something they did as often as she would like. That joy was short lived when she looked up and saw the pine grove sitting in front of them. “Geralt, shouldn’t you be slowing us down?”

“I’m working on it!” He ground out behind her, boot slipping from the side of the toboggan and digging into the flying snow beneath. 

“Geralt!” Yennefer hollered over the roar of the wind in her ears. The trees were getting closer by the minute and the sled felt as if it was gaining speed instead of slowing down.

There was a murmur of curses before the sled gave a gut wrenching jerk and Geralt hollered above both their heads, his arms tightening around Yennefer before making a hard lean off the sled. “Bail! Everyone bail!”

It was in a flurry of motion that bodies when flying from the sled, squeals of delight and terror mingled together as all three landed just short of the grove of trees that quickly claimed the old wooden toboggan.

Ciri rolled around laughing, snow clinging to her hair, her face alight with excitement as she sat up and sought out her parents. “Let's do that again!” 

In a tangle of limbs and snow, Yennefer tugged herself free of Geralt and flopped beside him in a huff of annoyance. She’d explicitly told him that this would happen. The damn sled was a walking disaster and she knew that it was going to cause them nothing but problems since the moment she saw him working on it in the garage.

Wiping the snow from her face, Yennefer looked from the tree bound sled to the idiot man beside her, the seething look she gave him only making his smile broaden beneath the snow that was piled on top of him.

“But did you die?” He teased, a rumble of laughter vibrating through him when Yennefer’s answer was a snowball to the face.

**Author's Note:**

> We are almost at the end of this series! One more to go!
> 
> Appreciate everyone that has shown these little pieces love, whether it be here or on Tumblr. It means a lot when they are not canon and simple fluff and in a fandom of this size. Stay healthy and be kind to yourselves!


End file.
